Seasonal Research

CAPE MAY HAWKWATCH UPDATE – Nov 20th to 30th

That’s all she wrote. The 2020 Cape May Hawkwatch, sponsored by Swarovski Optik, is officially finished and in the books. Stayed tuned to the end of this post for the full season total! The final 10 days of the count were what one would expect at this stage in the…...

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AVALON SEAWATCH UPDATE – Nov. 11th to Nov. 24th

This period started off slow but ramped up into quite a busy two weeks! Wednesday the 11th was overall slow, with a little over 1000 gannets and over 150 Laughing Gulls, but only 400 scoters and 170 Red-throated Loons. The 12th was similarly slow, with only 400 gannets, 400 Laughing…...

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MORNING FLIGHT UPDATE – Winter Finch Invasion

With late-November upon us and the 2020 morning flight count in the books, I’ve been meaning to post about the last few weeks of the season.  An incredible early season was equally matched by an unprecedented flight of northern finches throughout October and November. Species moving south in force this…...

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CAPE MAY HAWKWATCH UPDATE – November 13th to19th

Wind was the name of the game this week at the Cape May Hawkwatch, sponsored by Swarovski Optik. Almost every day saw sustained winds at 20mph and even up to 30mph on a few occasions. The wind direction varied greatly making counting this week either very rewarding or very frustrating.…...

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AVALON SEAWATCH UPDATE – November 4th to 10th

While we have passed our scoter peak, this week still brought plenty of scoter and increasing numbers of gannets and loons. The 4th was dominated by gannets, with 4716 southbound birds, which was the 9th largest day in the last 5 years.  Green-winged Teals had their 4th best day in…...

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CAPE MAY HAWKWATCH UPDATE – November 6th to 12th

This week felt more like September than November at the Cape May Hawkwatch, sponsored by Swarovski Optik. Every day this week we saw above average temperatures with dew points in the upper 60s and abundant sunshine. Although the weather was fabulous and made for some very enjoyable days on the…...

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CAPE MAY HAWKWATCH UPDATE – October 30th to November 5th

The Cape May Hawkwatch, sponsored by Swarovski Optik, is two-thirds finished and the final month of the autumn season is now underway. More on that later. October, as a whole, is the peak migration time in Cape May and that was on full display this year. A total of 17,820…...

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AVALON SEAWATCH UPDATE – October 28th to November 3rd

Our peak scoter movement continues from last week!  Read on to see the day-by-day breakdown, but Halloween was especially notable, with over 68,000 birds, the largest day I have counted at Avalon in my four years! October 28th picked up right where last week left off—with an additional 15,000 Surf…...

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AVALON SEAWATCH UPDATE – October 21st to 27th

The scoters have arrived!  Massive scoter movement dominated this week, culminating in a 20,000+ bird day, a 35,000 bird day, two 40,000+ bird days, and a 50,000 bird day; back-to-back, in that order!  Naturally, Tom and I are quite exhausted from counting such crazy numbers, but here is a short…...

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CAPE MAY HAWKWATCH UPDATE – October 23rd to 29th

Yet another week of unsettled weather at the Cape May Hawkwatch sponsored by Swarovski Optik. It seemed like each day produced a unique suite of weather conditions ranging from rainy cold fronts with NW winds, muggy summer-like temperatures, dense fog, and the remnants of Hurricane Zeta. Cape May is such…...

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